Politics

Calvin Duncan, left, an exoneree who was elected Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court, gets behin...

Louisiana exoneree assumes elected clerk office after federal judge blocks law eliminating position

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana man who spent decades in prison for a wrongful conviction began work Monday overseeing the criminal court in New Orleans after a judge temporarily blocked the state from eliminating the position. Calvin Duncan won 68% of the vote to serve as Orleans Parish criminal court clerk. But at the […]
6 months ago
The Washington Monument stands in the background as Roman Sandoli swings at the East Potomac Golf C...

Judge in dispute over Washington golf course tells Trump officials not to cut trees without notice

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge told the U.S. government Monday not to cut down more than 10 trees without first providing notice amid a legal dispute at a historic Washington golf course that President Donald Trump plans to renovate. U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes said during a remote hearing that she wasn’t going […]
6 months ago
President Donald Trump steps off from Marine One upon his arrival at the South Lawn of the White Ho...

The Latest: Trump launches a new effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

U.S. forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began. Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the U.S. military said. Separately, the U.S. military denied Iran’s claims that it struck an American Navy vessel […]
6 months ago
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at the West Wing of White House in Washington, Thursday Apri...

Rubio plans to visit the Vatican this week as tensions between Trump and the pope rise

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Rome and Vatican City this week in a bid to ease rising tensions between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV over U.S. policies, particularly the Iran war. The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a Catholic who has visited Rome and the Vatican […]
6 months ago
Retired couple Annette Williams, and her husband, Curtis Williams, speak with Indiana state Sen. Sp...

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Indiana’s state primaries

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is waging a retribution campaign against some fellow Republicans in Tuesday’s primary in Indiana. Seven GOP state senators who blocked his push to redraw the state’s congressional districts now face primary challengers endorsed by him. In a series of social media posts, Trump has lobbed various insults at the […]
6 months ago
Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek talks with community members following a candidates forum at the State o...

Democrats look for a foothold in Iowa as Vance visits to boost Republicans

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After years of coming up short, Democrats think they can make Iowa a political battleground again. Republican Donald Trump may have won the state by double digits in the last presidential election, but growing dissatisfaction with his leadership and rising costs from the Iran war could help set the stage […]
6 months ago
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community in ...

European leaders see Trump’s troop drawdown from Germany as new proof they must go it alone

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — European leaders on Monday said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security. The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops […]
6 months ago
Cargo ships are seen at sea near the Strait of Hormuz, as viewed from a rocky shoreline near Khor F...

U.S.-led task force tells ships to reroute on first day of new effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States kicked off an effort to “guide” stranded ships from the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz, as it tries to counter economic disruptions that outlasted the peak of fighting with no peace deal in sight. A day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced what he called “Project Freedom,” […]
6 months ago
FILE - Members of the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles hold signs reading: "#Stop Asian Ha...

Fewer AAPI adults report hate incidents but racism concerns linger, new poll shows

Fewer Asian American and Pacific Islander adults are reporting overt anti-Asian attacks than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new AP-NORC/AAPI Data poll finds, but many still worry about racial discrimination. A new poll out Monday, as AAPI Heritage Month begins, from October 2023 poll where 36% said they were victims of an […]
6 months ago
State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Fla., speaks loudly on the House floor as the House voted on HB1D, a redi...

Redistricting war accelerates winner-take-all political combat that’s straining American democracy

Willie Simon stood outside the Memphis motel where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, now a museum dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement. Days after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Simon feared what the decision would mean not just for Black Americans like himself […]
6 months ago

Southern state Republicans look to capitalize on Supreme Court ruling weakening Voting Rights Act

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Lawmakers in several southern states will meet this week to consider plans that could upend their congressional primaries and redraw U.S. House districts ahead of the November elections, as Republicans move quickly to capitalize on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Special […]
6 months ago
FILE - United States' Air Force transport aircrafts are seen on the tarmac at Ramstein U.S. air bas...

What to know about the US military presence in Europe as Trump seeks drawdown of thousands of troops

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s vow to shrink America’s military deployment in Germany has put a new spotlight on the U.S. role in Europe. There are usually 80,000 to 100,000 troops on the continent, with more than 36,000 in Germany. The Pentagon announced Friday that it would remove 5,000 troops from Germany, and Trump […]
6 months ago
FILE - Former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani participates in a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of t...

Rudy Giuliani hospitalized in critical condition, his spokesman says

NEW YORK (AP) — Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, is in critical but stable condition at a hospital, his spokesman said Sunday. Spokesman Ted Goodman didn’t say what sent the 81-year-old to the hospital or how long he’s been there. “Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in […]
6 months ago
FILE - President Ronald Reagan prays with National Association of Evangelicals President Arthur Gay...

Did the founders create a Christian nation? No, but religion did shape their thinking

When he talks about the role of religion in the founding of the United States, historian Gregg Frazer does not attract eager audiences. “Neither side really wants to hear what I say,” says Frazer, a professor of history and political studies at The Master’s University, a Christian school in Santa Clarita, California. The founders, Frazer […]
6 months ago
Vehicles drive past a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. Preside...

Iran presses for an end to war within 30 days as Trump expresses doubts

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s latest proposal to the United States calls for issues between the two countries to be resolved within 30 days and aims to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire, according to Iran’s state-linked media. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he was reviewing a new Iranian […]
6 months ago
Matthew Haines, owner of the Oakwood Apartments, poses for a photo at the comminty housing location...

Landlords want to be paid for pandemic losses and hope to reach a deal with the Trump administration

BOSTON (AP) — Just months into the pandemic, Matthew Haines, like landlords across the country, learned he was barred from evicting tenants who didn’t pay their rent under a federal eviction moratorium that lasted almost a year — costing him and his investors over $1 million. Now, the 57-year-old Texan is hoping to get some […]
6 months ago
FILE - Attendees playfully wear tin foil hats at the Edinburg UFO Festival, April 5, 2024, in Edinb...

Trump keeps us up in the air with his hints of what’s coming in a new batch of UFO files

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the Pentagon is preparing to release some “very interesting” UFO files uncovered by his administration, generating a mix of buzz and skepticism as he hints at new revelations around questions of alien life. Trump started stoking interest in the extraterrestrial in February, directing federal agencies to release their […]
6 months ago

Four New Jersey residents charged with illegally voting and lying on citizenship forms

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal prosecutors in New Jersey have charged four residents with illegally voting. The U.S. attorney’s office for New Jersey said in a statement Friday that the four people were not U.S. citizens when they registered to vote and cast ballots in federal elections, as federal law requires. Their charges range from […]
6 months ago

Black Americans face a new fight for racial representation after justices’ Voting Rights Act ruling

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — At 16, Edward Blackmon Jr. was arrested during a protest for voting rights in his Mississippi hometown. He was loaded with schoolmates into a truck once used to haul chickens and was left in the summer heat before spending three nights in an overcrowded jail cell without a bed. It was […]
6 months ago
From left, Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte, Ukraine's Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov, Ge...

Germany focuses on shared interests after US announces troop drawdown

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s defense minister on Saturday appeared to take in stride a Pentagon announcement that the United States plans to pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, saying a drawdown was expected and emphasizing the mutual benefit of the longstanding U.S. deployment in Europe. Boris Pistorius said Europe recognized and was acting on […]
6 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm ...

Trump likes the idea of the government owning some US companies but took a pass on Spirit Airlines

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump had no qualms about a government takeover of Spirit Airlines, so long as the terms could be portrayed as a financial victory in what would have been the latest addition to a taxpayer-backed conglomerate of business interests. But the budget carrier ceased operations on Saturday after reaching an impasse […]
6 months ago
FILE - Amy Acton, Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio, gestures as she speaks with a reporter...

The long shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic creeps into the race for Ohio governor

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Dr. Amy Acton, a Democrat running unopposed in her party’s primary for Ohio governor, faces some steep challenges in the coming general election. She is trying to be the first Democrat in 20 years to win the office in a state that has become dominated by Republicans. Her presumed opponent, Republican […]
6 months ago
An Emirati patrol boat, left, is near a tanker anchored in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Horm...

US warns shipping firms they could face sanctions over paying Iranian tolls in the Strait of Hormuz

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The alert posted Friday by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the U.S. and […]
6 months ago
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One, Friday, April 17, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md....

Takeaways from AP report on Trump administration’s defiance of lower court orders

Federal judges around the country have raised alarms in recent months about the Trump administration’s failure to follow their orders in individual immigration cases. An Associated Press review of court records shows Trump officials have also racked up an extraordinary record of defiance in a much broader set of lawsuits dating back to the first […]
6 months ago